Silver Stars-Shock Preview

Three weeks ago, the San Antonio Silver Stars were knocking on the door for first place in the Western Conference while riding the longest winning streak in franchise history.

Those feel-good days are long gone, and so may be San Antonio's chance at home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason if it doesn't get back on track quickly.

The playoff-bound Silver Stars look to end their season-high five-game skid Wednesday night when they visit the conference-worst Tulsa Shock, the team they last defeated.

San Antonio (17-11) won its final nine games before the Olympic break and would stretch that run to a team-record 12 before falling 101-77 at Los Angeles on Aug. 23.

The Silver Stars bounced back to beat Tulsa 91-71 at home two days later, but that was their last victory. San Antonio, which hasn't dropped six in a row since Aug. 14-28, 2011, is coming off its worst defeat during the skid.

After losing their previous two games by a combined eight points, the Silver Stars were no match for league-best Minnesota in an 81-62 home loss Sunday.

While the Lynx wrapped up first place in the West, San Antonio remained two games behind the Sparks for second.

"Maybe it's something that we're living in the past," said forward Sophia Young, who was the only San Antonio player in double figures with 20 points. "(Maybe) the 12-game win streak is in our head and we're not really focusing and doing the things that we need to do to come out to play aggressively.

"I use a scripture from Bible, 'Don't long for the good old days, it's just as useless as chasing the wind.' We've just got to move on, look ahead and be in the moment."

The Silver Stars appear to have a good chance of ending their skid with a matchup against the Shock (6-22). San Antonio has averaged 91.4 points in winning the last nine meetings by an average of 15.7, and the Silver Stars are 6-0 in Tulsa since the Shock relocated there for the 2010 season.

The Shock enter having lost three straight after winning back-to-back games for the third time since moving to Tulsa and first since Aug. 26-28, 2011.

They were outscored by an average of 25.0 points in getting swept by Seattle in a home-and-home series last week, falling 89-66 on their own court Saturday.

Ivory Latta scored 14 points to lead Tulsa, which shot 33.8 percent. The Shock, who visit San Antonio on Sunday, shot 36.8 percent in Thursday's 101-74 loss in Seattle.